Lonely, but united: Sherry Turkle and Steven Johnson on technology’s pain and promise

Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together, and Steven Johnson, author of Future Perfect, joined forces at the New York Public Library on Wednesday night to discuss their respective books — his new on shelves, and hers new in paperback. Turkle described Johnson as “provocatively utopian,” and herself as “provocatively pessimistic.” She was kind to describe their two books as a matched set, because at first glance there isn’t much in common between the two titles: Alone Together is a dense, voraciously researched work that reveals the many ways technology is hurting our relationships, conversations, and intimacy.